| Description |
xv, 787 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm |
| Note |
Originally published: London : Allen Lane, 2014. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 567-751) and index. |
| Contents |
Decisions for war -- Mobilizing the people -- War of illusions -- The war of defence -- Encirclement -- Security for all time -- Crisis at the front -- Deprivation -- Remobilization -- U-boats -- Dangerous ideas -- The bread peace -- Collapse -- Epilogue. |
| Summary |
A comprehensive analysis of the war efforts of the primary Central Powers, Germany and Austria-Hungary. |
|
For Germany and Austria-Hungary the First World War started with high hopes for a rapid, decisive outcome. Yet despite the initial halting of a brutal Russian invasion, the Central Powers' war plans soon unraveled. Germany's attack on France failed, Austria-Hungary's armies suffered catastrophic losses at Russian and Serbian hands, and hopes of a quick victory lay in ruins. For the Central Powers the war now became a siege on a monstrous scale. Britain's ruthless intervention cut sea routes to central Europe and mobilized the world against them. Germany and Austria-Hungary were to be strangled of war supplies and food, their soldiers overwhelmed by better armed enemies, and their civilians brought to the brink of starvation. The Central Powers were trapped in the Allies' ever-tightening ring of steel. Alexander Watson's compelling new history retells the war from the perspectives of its instigators and losers, the Germans and Austro-Hungarians. This is the story not just of their leaders in Berlin and Vienna, but above all of the people. Only through their unprecedented mobilization could the conflict last so long and be so bitterly fought, and only with the waning of their commitment did it end. The war shattered their societies, destroyed their states and bequeathed to east-central Europe a poisonous legacy of unredeemed sacrifice, suffering, race hatred and violence. This book is an essential contribution to understanding the last century of European history.--From publisher description. |
| Subject |
World War, 1914-1918 -- Germany.
|
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World War, 1914-1918 -- Austria.
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World War, 1914-1918 -- Campaigns -- Eastern Front.
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| Cover Title |
Ring of steel : Germany and Austria-Hungary in World War I, the people's war |
| Note |
Subtitle on dust jacket: People's war |
| ISBN |
9780465018727 (hardcover) $35.00 |
|
0465018726 (hardcover) |
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9780465056873 (ebook) |
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9781846142215 (British) |
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